After imposing 50% tariff on India, Trump said that it has been only 8 hours, secondary tariff is yet to be imposed…

New Delhi: US President Donald Trump has hinted at imposing more “secondary sanctions” on India. His statement came after he had announced an additional 25% tariff on India 8 hours ago according to local time. When a reporter asked why additional tariff was imposed on India despite other countries like China also importing Russian oil, the President replied, “It has been only 8 hours. Keep watching what happens. You will get to see a lot more… You will get to see many secondary sanctions.”

President Donald Trump has also talked about imposing “secondary sanctions” on China. Trump said in his statement, “We have imposed 50% tariff on India, which is second after China in buying Russian oil.” When asked if he is going to impose more tariffs on China like he did on India, Trump replied, “We did it with India. We will impose it on many other countries as well. China may be one of them.”

The Donald Trump administration says that India has refused to stop buying Russian oil, which is a matter of “national security” for the US. In an interview, Trump himself has accused India of effectively funding the Russian war in Ukraine. He said, “They (India) are fueling the war machine.”

Meanwhile, White House trade advisor Peter Navarro said on raising tariffs on India, “This is purely a national security issue, which is related to India’s refusal to stop buying Russian oil.” For example, Trump is announcing tariffs on tariffs so that India stops energy imports from Russia, where India’s stand on “national interest” is clear.

50% baseline tariff will be applicable on India
President Trump announced a 25% tariff on goods imported from India on July 30. After this, on August 6, he announced another 25% additional tariff. This move will take the total tariff rate on India to 50%. The first 25% tariff will be applicable from August 7, while the new additional 25% tariff will be effective 21 days later, i.e. from August 27. In this way, a total of 50% baseline tariff will be applicable on India. This is the first time that Trump has taken the step of imposing a “secondary tariff” on Russia’s trading partners. However, he has put a 90-day ban on the tariff imposed on China.

How did India react to Trump’s tariff?
India has strongly condemned the US decision and termed it “extremely unfortunate”. A statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that this decision is against India’s energy security and national interests. India clarified that its crude oil imports are market-based and are aimed at meeting the energy needs of 1.4 billion citizens. India also said that many countries in the world are taking similar decisions keeping in mind their national interests, so targeting only India is “unfair, unjust and baseless”. The government reiterated that it will take every necessary step to protect its national interests.